In faraway Wuhan, the springtime has clothed the banks of the Han River in green. But it is a springtime that many people will not see. It is a springtime when the dying could not receive a last kiss from their loved ones. A springtime that passed thirteen million Wuhanese by.
Yan Geling on the Coronavirus Coverup
Our News, Your News
China Dream: Longlisted for 2020 Best Translated Book Award themillions.com
Translated by Flora Drew, original Chinese by Ma Jian (中国梦 马建 著)
Harper Collins to publish Fang Fang's Wuhan Diary www.harpercollins.com
Harper Collins to publish Fang Fang's Wuhan Diary, translated by Michael Berry
Rao Pingru Passes Away at Age 99 news.cgtn.com
Rao Pingru, writer of popular love memoir "Our Story," died at a hospital in Shanghai at the age of 99 on Saturday morning.
Hide! Hide! Hide! Yan Geling writes from Berlin on the coronavirus cover-up in China.
By Nicky Harman, March 28, '20
Translated by Nicky Harman
In faraway Wuhan, the springtime has clothed the banks of the Han River in green. But it is a springtime that many people will not see. It is a springtime when the dying could not receive a last kiss from their loved ones. A springtime that passed thirteen million Wuhanese by.
While my heart has been in Wuhan, I have been in Berlin, in self-imposed captivity behind the iron railings of my courtyard. I too have missed the coming of spring. The wildflowers are already out, most recently the forget-me-nots, a swathe of tiny blue flowers, tranquil, a touch melancholy, as if well aware that “forget me not” is a vain hope, given how fickle and forgetful we humans are. How could we not forget? If our people cultivated a good memory, good enough to remember past catastrophes, our memory storage disks would long since have burst.
Ian Johnson Interviews Yuan Ling www.nybooks.com
In the past, when writing about the realities in China, it was hard to find a milestone-type of event that has significance as a topic for writing. Sometimes you think there is a key event, but its significance disappears very quickly because, no matter what happens, there’s always the opposite argument and explanation. Things that you think matter often don’t matter to others. Even with big topics like the Cultural Revolution, some think it’s good, some think it’s bad, and others think it’s best not to discuss it. So it has been hard to find a starting point.
But the virus has already had a deeper impact on the people than even the [2008] Sichuan earthquake [that killed 69,000]. The virus causes isolation and shutdown, which mirrors the isolation and shutdown in Chinese society, and also because it was directly the result of controlling speech and clamping down on “rumors.” Everyone is isolated, even though it’s not necessary. This is symbolic. During normal times, people aren’t free but they don’t feel it, but now everyone feels their unfreedom.
Nicky Harman: Championing Chinese women writers for English-language readers www.scmp.com
Thomas Bird profiles one of the most prolific Chinese-to-English literary translators around, Nicky Harman:
I stopped teaching in 2011 to focus on translation and have been very busy ever since. I love the fact that I work with living authors and have had the luck to translate a range of works – Jia Pingwa’s long novels about the countryside, Dorothy Tse Hiu-hung’s short fiction about a distinctly surreal Hong Kong, Chen Xiwo’s dark stories that offer excoriating insights on human nature, and Yan Ge’s and Huang Beijia’s novels about growing up and behaving badly, to name a few.
NY Times Reviews Chan Ho Kei's Second Sister www.nytimes.com
Their investigation takes us from creepy commuter-train-gropers to the dark reaches of the internet, where evil festers in many forms — online bullies and sexual predators as well as shady tech businesses, fake websites and chat rooms, even voices in people’s heads. If you’re not nervous reading “Second Sister” on the subway, you will be when you venture online.
White Snow, Black Crows: Can literature help us face the epidemic? mychinesebooks.com
Bertrand Mialaret reviews Chi Zijian's newly published Neige et Corbeaux, French edition of Chi Zijian's 白雪黑鸭:
In “White Snow, Black Crows”, Chi Zijian wanted to revive [Harbin's] Fujiadian before and during the [pneumonic] plague epidemic by showing the impact of the disease on daily life and its limitations; “in other words, I wanted to put aside the bleached skeletons and describe life under the cloud of death” (p.360). Yet the number of deaths in Fujiadian exceeded 5,000, or nearly three out of every ten people.
The characters are many and very diverse: a eunuch, Zhai Yisheng, a redeemed prostitute, a Russian singer, Sennikova, a restaurant, a distillery, grain storage areas. The town of Harbin is an important character.
Many aspects remind us of the Covid-19 epidemic that we are experiencing and the attitude of our fellow citizens who lack discipline; perhaps they think like in Harbin, that contagion is inevitable and that one can lead a normal life!
Chi Zijian: Quand le monde retient son souffle www.liberation.fr
La première fois que j’ai vécu une épidémie de maladie infectieuse à grande échelle, c’était en 2003, au moment de l’épidémie de Sras en Chine. Mon mari venait de mourir peu de temps auparavant dans un accident de voiture ; j’étais plongée dans une douleur si profonde que je n’en voyais pas le fond. L’irruption soudaine de cette épidémie virulente dans mon existence, après la catastrophe que je venais de subir, m’a fait comprendre qu’une maladie de ce genre était aussi effrayante qu’un accident de la circulation : elle apporte tout doucement sans faire de bruit la mort dans son sillage.
Fang Fang speaks out about Wuhan: No Gratitude!
By Nicky Harman, March 16, '20
The author Fang Fang has been writing some fiery blog posts since being locked down in her home city of Wuhan. Now, thanks to the brilliant Brigitte Duzan, a couple of these blogs are in French, on Brigitte's website. The original blogs in Chinese (frequently taken down as soon as they went up) have apparently found a more stable home on Caixin.
Gushi Shines Spotlight on PRC Online Non-fiction
By Nicky Harman, March 16, '20
Hong Kong translator and editor Min Lee, formerly of Chinarrative, has launched a separate newsletter spotlighting reader-generated Chinese non-fiction. Gushi focuses on extended essays on everyday life from the general public published in PRC online platforms. The first few issues feature stories set against the coronavirus outbreak in China. Please take a look. If you like what you read, do subscribe and spread the word.
Coronavirus Has Ground Chinese Publishing to a Halt lithub.com
The weakening of China’s book industry started long before the outbreak. It was like the sickly plant that I had on the windowsill: even as I looked after it daily, watering it, trying to kill the mold, pumping a few drops of nutrients from time to time, it continued yellowing and withering away, silently and mysteriously.
The Japan-China-Korea Peace Picture Book Project chinesebooksforyoungreaders.wordpress.com
Here are two linked blogposts about ”The Japan-China-Korea Peace Picture Book Project” — a great project “to document the past honestly, share today’s sorrow, and create a peaceful tomorrow together” - 11 books on war translated, published and shared in all three countries - by David Jacobson, Minjie Chen, Reiko Nakaigawa Lee, and Jongsun Wee.
Part 1
Part 2
Lovecraftian Chinese horror
By Dylan Levi King, March 10, '20
The Flock of Ba-Hui and Other Stories from Camphor Press, a collection of Lovecraftian horror by a pseudonymous author is among the more interesting works to appear recently in translation from Chinese.
Of course, web novels and online writing have made it into translation before. I’m thinking of Shen Haobo 沈浩波, who made a name from poems published online (and who once made a living as a publisher of online lit), and also Murong Xuecun 慕容雪村, whose Leave Me Alone was first posted online—some of that has made it to ink and paper, but most of the translation of web stuff remains online, and it’s mostly in the form of light novels, like Godly Stay-Home Dad 神级奶爸 and the nearly 5000 chapter Martial God Asura 修罗武神 (it could be 10,000 chapters by now).
I’ve pulled examples from two extremes—work mostly of interest to academics on one side, wildly popular wuxia fantasies on the other—but the stories in The Flock of Ba-Hui probably sit somewhere in the middle: still genre fiction but from a slightly more serious tradition, and written with more attention to the craft. They were culled from the Ring of Wonder, a discussion board for fantasy worlds, games, and literature.
Wuhan Author Fang Fang and her "Quarantine Diary" (封城日记) www.chinese-shortstories.com
Over at chinese-shortstories.com, Brigitte Duzan has just (March 8) posted a very topical, moving and insightful essay featuring excerpts from 封城日记 (Quarantine Diary), by Wuhan-based author Fang Fang (方方). Duzan's piece shines the light on writers and intellectuals who, despite censorship, are speaking out on the very taboo subject of China under the Coronavirus lock-down. It touches on a cast of writers and intellectuals, as well as literary genres, including Yan Lianke (阎连科), Lu Xün (鲁迅), Xie Bingying (谢冰莹) and her Army Diary (从军日记) of the 1930s, professor Dai Jianye (戴建业), Hu Shuli (胡舒立) and controversial reportage by Caixin magazine that she heads, and more.
Worth a read:
La quarantaine à Wuhan : chronique de Fang Fang, poèmes et autres témoignages
Tsering Dondrup's "Tempête rouge" Translated from the Tibetan Wins Prix Montluc prix-montluc.fr
Translated from the Tibetan by Françoise Robin, the French rendition of Tsering Dondrup's Tempête rouge -- reportedly the premier modern Tibetan novel and certainly the only one to deal critically with China's invasion of Tibet -- has just been awarded the prestigious Prix Montluc Résistance et Liberté. It thus joins the recently published The Handsome Monk and Other Stories, from the same author, translated into English by Christopher Peacock.
A brief backgrounder on the novel and its author:
Issu d’une communauté de pasteurs nomades, Tsering Dondrup (né en 1961) écrit depuis les années 1980 et a fondé une des premières revues littéraires indépendantes du Tibet. Ses dizaines de nouvelles et ses six romans ont été accueillis depuis avec enthousiasme par le lectorat tibétain, en raison de leur mélange d’humour et de noirceur. Tempête rouge ne fait pas exception : seul et unique roman tibétain décrivant l’invasion chinoise du Tibet, il n’épargne ni les cadres corrompus ni les lamas vénaux. A la sortie du roman, en 2006, Tsering Dondrup a été radié du poste qu’il occupait aux archives de son district et qui lui donnait accès aux informations confidentielles ayant nourri les faits relatés ici. Le roman a été immédiatement interdit par les autorités chinoises et son auteur s’est vu confisquer son passeport.
In Search of New Team Members: A Call to Arms
By Eric Abrahamsen, March 4, '20
Paper Republic has moved into a new era. Our mission is to promote Chinese literature in English translation, focussing on new writing from contemporary Chinese writers, and we recently registered as a charity in the UK, registration number 1182259. New era, new ambitions. We're growing, and we need new people to join our non-profit management team.
In particular, the wonderful Dave Haysom, who helped us develop the Paper Republic platform, is having to step back to focus on his job. Right now, we need someone with an interest in the social media side of things, and someone with an interest in running projects.
- Are you interested in Chinese literature in translation? You don't have to be a translator, though it will help if you've done a bit.
- Do you know about (or are you willing to learn about) creating posts or Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and our website? And can you come up with new ideas? Our marketing and social media profile is key to getting more people reading more Chinese literature in translation.
- Are you interested in managing a project? Apart from maintenance of the website, Paper Republic is a project-based organization. Everyone on the management team is responsible for taking the lead on a project at some point.
- Are you comfortable with technology? We exist mostly online, and are located around the world. That means that most of what we do is done through internet communications. Everyone does a bit of website data entry, as well!
- Are you willing to join management meetings via Slack. These can be at ungodly hours (our other team members are scattered in China, the west coast of America and the UK). Meetings are every two to three weeks for about an hour. Other business gets discussed by email.
- Are you willing to volunteer your services? Our management team consists of five volunteers. You would be the sixth or seventh member of our team. The management work is unpaid, although we always aim to pay translators and editors. It doesn’t matter where you live, so long as your time zone means you can join our Slack meetings.
What will you get out of it?
- You’ll be giving something back, to Chinese literature and the wider Chinese translation community
- You’ll be working on a website that has an international reputation (the London Book Fair judges in 2016 called us the go-to place for Chinese translations and translators)
- For more than ten years, Paper Republic has shaped people’s views of Chinese literature in translation all over the word.
- You’ll be joining a community of translators, and you’ll learn professional skills (and we hope we’ll learn from you).
If you're interested, please drop us a note (and a CV) via email: info@paper-republic.org
Silk Road Update: GoogleTranslate Now Does Uyghur
By Bruce Humes, February 27, '20
GoogleTranslate offers translation to/from several of China's indigenous languages, the latest being Uyghur.
Others are Kazakh, Korean, Kyrgyz and Mongolian.
Turkmen and Tatar have also just joined the club -- and Turkish had long been available -- so Google Translate is doing a decent job of adding Turkic languages.
But in terms of written scripts used by a large number of PRC citizens, one stands out as missing on this list: Tibetan. It appears that its inclusion is underway, but I don't have any details.
Awaiting Translation: Yan Lianke's Address on Memory & Coronavirus u.osu.edu
編者按：本文是閻連科2月21日在香港科技大學網絡授課的第一講，端傳媒獲閻連科授權，轉載全文
同學們：今天是我們科大研究生班網絡授課的第一講。開講前請允許我說些課外話。
小時候，當我連續把同樣的錯誤犯到第二、第三次，父母會把我叫到他們面前去，用手指着我的額頭問：
「你有記性嗎？！」
當我把語文課讀了多遍還不能背誦時，老師會讓我在課堂上站起來，當眾質問到：
「你有記性嗎？！」
单向空间 OWSpace Bookstores Struggling to Survive
By David Haysom, February 25, '20
The One-Way bookstores have been a home for literature for the last fifteen years, providing space on their shelves for the kind of books that are hard to find anywhere else, as well as hosting literary talks and events with local and international authors. Now, with the impact of COVID-19 bringing their business to a standstill, they are in need of donations just to be able to keep paying rent.
In this Wechat post they explain that they have only been able to keep one of their four stores open. That one store, in a Beijing shopping mall that now has a tenth of its usual customers, has been selling no more than a handful of books a day. Restrictions on delivery services have also taken a huge chunk out of their online sales.
OWSpace are the publishers of One-Way Street Magazine (单读): an outstanding literary journal, a rare independent voice in contemporary Chinese media, and our collaborators for the "Read Paper Republic: Dispatches" series of creative non-fiction pieces. Last year, a profile in Neocha described the publication as "a journal that thinks books and ideas are worth arguing about [...] a platform for opinions, articles of faith, and moments of doubt—in short, a public conversation about cultural life."
To support OWSpace and One-Way Street Magazine – and everything they do for the literary scene in China – you can make a donation here.
Wuhan: China's "forgotten" Chicago edition.cnn.com
Did you know that, like many of China's major seaports, Hankou (Wuhan) hosted concessions granted to the British in 1858, and eventually the Belgians, French, Germans, Japanese and Russians?
Interview with translator Jennifer Feeley chinesebooksforyoungreaders.wordpress.com
Anna Gustafsson Chen has interviewed Jennifer Feeley, and reviewed her translation of Chen Jiatong's children's novel White Fox. Two consecutive posts - read them both!
China’s First 20th-century Epidemic: Brief Excerpts from Reportage and Fiction www.bruce-humes.com
For those of you who would like to learn a bit about China’s pre-21st century experience in dealing with epidemics, I’ve woven together three topical items, all of which center around an epidemic that took place in early 1900s China. They include news about the upcoming launch of a French translation of a “plague” novel — 《白雪乌鸦》by a Chinese author — and an English excerpt (in case your French isn’t quite up to par) . . .
Yan Lianke: Translations by Carlos Rojas, Brigitte Guilbaud mychinesebooks.com
Bertrand Mialaret's latest essay discusses various French and English translations of Yan Lianke's novels
Marketing Translated Literature: High-cost but Compelling Approach
By Bruce Humes, February 5, '20
Just got the following email from a publisher of translated contemporary Arabic literature:
Pretty impressive: One-click access to video of author speaking (in Arabic with English sub-titles) about the novel; lengthy English-language extract; background info about the author; link to publisher's blog where one can find some authors personally reading their work, etc.
Has any publisher of Chinese literature in translation done something along these lines?
Asymptote: Tibetans of Beijing by Lhashamgyal www.asymptotejournal.com
In Beijing’s night, neon lights flash on and off and the shadows of Beijing’s inhabitants flicker indistinctly. Packs of cars on the main roads form a river of light. In the midst of that river—constantly flowing like the kleshas of desire, hatred, and ignorance and glittering like the variegated colors of the objects of earthly desire—the lights spewed forth from the depths of the night. (translated by Kati Fitzgerald)
Alex Smith Reviews Sanmao supchina.com
From the book’s earliest essays, it becomes clear how Sanmao’s whimsical solo traveler persona came to symbolize an alternative way of life among her earliest generation of readers, whose own lives were shaped by the oppressive political environments of mainland China and Taiwan during the 1970s.
Two New “Ethnic” Novels from China for 2020
By Bruce Humes, January 26, '20
Two potentially controversial novels — one by a Uyghur author, and the other by a Tibetan — have recently been published in English. They are part of the Kaleidoscope Series of China’s Ethnic Authors sponsored by China Translation & Publishing House, a dozen or so novels by authors that highlight tales in which non-Han culture, motifs and characters play a key role (民族题材文学).
Patigül’s Bloodline (百年血脉) relates the semi-autobiographical tale of a Xinjiang native, daughter of a Uyghur father and Hui mother, who marries a Han, and struggles to bring up a family in mainstream Chinese society. Told in the first person, it unflinchingly describes her mother’s mental illness, her brother’s agonizing death from an STD and tribulations of a “mixed” marriage. For an English excerpt, visit here.
Tsering Norbu’s Prayers in the Wind (祭语风中) narrates the subsequent life of a Buddhist monk who attempts — unsuccessfully — to exit China in the wake of the 1959 Tibetan uprising and the Dalai Lama’s flight to India. For an excerpt, visit here.
Warwick Translates Summer School, Chinese workshop
By Nicky Harman, January 23, '20
Registration for the Warwick Translates Summer School has now opened! Details here. It takes place 8-12 July 2020 inclusive, and there will be a Chinese-to-English option, led by Nicky Harman.